BUILDING THE PHILIPPINE MARITIME STATE
From Maritime Nation to Maritime Capability—and from Buyer to Builder
Building the institutions, people, industries and infrastructure of an archipelagic nation
By Karl M. Garcia
Introduction: A Maritime Nation Building a Maritime State
The Philippines is already a maritime nation.
Its islands are connected by seas. Its people have lived from fishing, seafaring, boatbuilding and maritime trade for centuries. Millions of Filipinos work at sea. Ports connect the country to global commerce. Fisheries feed communities. Tourism depends on coastal and marine resources. Energy, transportation, food security, trade and national defense all depend upon the sea.
The problem is not a lack of maritime identity.
The problem is that the Philippines has never consistently converted that identity into national capability.
For much of its modern history, maritime affairs have been treated as separate sectors. Shipping belonged to one set of institutions, fisheries to another, ports to another, environmental protection to another, and maritime security to another. Shipbuilding and repair were largely regarded as commercial activities rather than strategic industrial capabilities. Maritime education often emphasized supplying workers rather than developing the complete ecosystem of engineers, designers, technicians, scientists and managers required by a maritime economy.
That fragmentation is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain.
The Philippine Maritime Zones Act, the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award, Executive Order No. 57 and the strengthening of the National Maritime Council, Coast Guard and Navy modernization, improved maritime-domain awareness, renewed shipbuilding investment and growing public-private cooperation are beginning to connect pieces of a much larger national system.
The objective should not be to invent a new national identity.
It should be to build the capacity of the Philippines to fully function as what it already is:
a maritime and archipelagic nation.
This is where the concept of a maritime state becomes useful.
A maritime state is not a new constitutional form. It is not a replacement for the maritime nation. It describes the institutional capacity of an archipelagic country to organize government, industry and society around the realities of the sea.
A capable maritime state can see what is happening at sea, understand it, decide what to do, act upon it, remain present, and sustain its capabilities over time.
And ultimately, it must be able to build.
The progression is therefore:
Maritime Nation → Maritime Awareness → Maritime Governance → Maritime Presence → Maritime Security → Maritime Infrastructure → Maritime Industry → Maritime Human Capital → Maritime Resilience → Maritime Capability → Maritime Power.
The maritime nation already exists.
The task now is to build the maritime state that allows it to exercise its potential.
I. MANA Mo: The Nation Must Know What It Is
The foundation of a maritime state is not a warship.
It is public understanding.
The Philippines already has a national mechanism for developing that understanding: Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month, or MANA Mo.
Proclamation No. 316, issued in 2017, designated September of every year as MANA Mo to raise national consciousness about maritime and archipelagic issues and policies.
MANA Mo should therefore be more than another government observance.
It should become the public face of the country’s maritime strategy.
This direction was strengthened in 2025 when Memorandum Circular No. 87 directed national government agencies to promote awareness of the Philippines as a Maritime and Archipelagic Nation, encouraged local governments and the private sector to participate, and tasked the National Maritime Council, through the Presidential Office for Maritime Concerns, with developing year-round programs while coordinating the September observance.
That creates an opportunity to turn MANA Mo from a calendar event into a permanent national conversation.
A child learning about the balangay is maritime awareness.
A student visiting a shipyard is maritime awareness.
A fisherman learning sustainable fishing practices is maritime awareness.
A coastal barangay restoring mangroves is maritime awareness.
A university conducting marine research is maritime awareness.
A Filipino learning why the country’s maritime zones matter is maritime awareness.
A company investing in shipbuilding is maritime awareness.
A Coast Guard crew protecting fishermen is maritime awareness.
A Filipino seafarer working abroad is maritime awareness.
The message should be simple:
The sea is not the space between the islands. The sea is what connects the nation.
MANA Mo can connect schools, universities, local governments, fishermen, seafarers, shipyards, shipping companies, scientists, environmental organizations, tourism enterprises, ports, museums, the Coast Guard, Navy and private sector.
Its purpose is ultimately to create something no law, ship or satellite can create by itself:
a maritime national consciousness.
II. From Awareness to Governance
Awareness, however, is only the beginning.
A maritime nation needs institutions capable of acting upon that awareness.
The Philippines already has many of them.
The Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Navy, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Maritime Industry Authority, National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, Philippine Ports Authority, Philippine Space Agency and other agencies possess important maritime responsibilities.
The answer is not necessarily to merge them into one enormous maritime bureaucracy.
The better objective is coordination without destroying specialization.
The Coast Guard should remain the Coast Guard.
The Navy should remain the Navy.
BFAR should remain responsible for fisheries.
MARINA should continue regulating and developing the maritime industry.
NAMRIA should continue its mapping and hydrographic functions.
DENR should continue protecting marine and coastal ecosystems.
The National Maritime Council should provide strategic coordination across government.
The principle should be:
Different institutions. One maritime picture. Coordinated action.
A fishing vessel, Coast Guard ship, research vessel, offshore-energy project, merchant ship and naval patrol may have different missions, but they operate within the same maritime environment.
The state must therefore be able to:
See. Understand. Decide. Act. Remain. Sustain.
And increasingly:
Build.
III. The West Philippine Sea: Protecting Rights Without Making Every Incident a War
The West Philippine Sea is where the maritime state faces one of its most demanding tests.
The Philippines must protect its lawful maritime rights while avoiding unnecessary escalation.
That requires more than military power.
It requires persistent observation, Coast Guard presence, fisheries protection, environmental monitoring, diplomatic engagement, legal documentation, communications and credible public information.
Modern maritime pressure does not always resemble conventional warfare.
It can involve dangerous maneuvering, blocking, water-cannon incidents, swarming, intimidation of fishermen, interference with resupply missions, illegal fishing, environmental damage, misinformation and economic pressure.
These problems require different instruments.
A fisheries violation requires fisheries enforcement.
Pollution requires environmental enforcement and, where appropriate, claims for damages.
A navigation incident may require Coast Guard intervention.
Coercion may require diplomatic protest and international coordination.
A serious security threat may require defense and alliance mechanisms.
The principle should be:
Do not militarize every problem—but do not leave any problem unmanaged.
That is one of the advantages of a capable maritime state.
It possesses enough instruments to respond proportionately, persistently and lawfully.
IV. Ayungin Shoal: The Sierra Madre and the Problem of Permanent Presence
The BRP Sierra Madre demonstrates why maritime strategy cannot be reduced to procurement.
The vessel has served as a Philippine outpost at Ayungin Shoal since 1999. Its strategic importance therefore lies not simply in its age or original military purpose.
Its importance lies in continued Philippine presence.
That makes maintenance, inspection, reinforcement and logistical support matters of national importance.
The Philippines should continue improving the survivability and habitability of the outpost through responsible engineering, corrosion control, structural assessment, communications, power, water and living-support systems.
Modern technology can help.
Underwater cameras, sonar, remotely operated vehicles and other inspection technologies can allow engineers to monitor the vessel and surrounding structures more systematically.
But the larger lesson is clear:
A national maritime presence should never depend indefinitely on one aging platform.
The government should therefore study future options carefully, including modular infrastructure, improved communications, renewable power, water systems, navigational aids, maritime-safety facilities and other structures that could eventually supplement or succeed the vessel where legally, environmentally, diplomatically and technically appropriate.
The objective is not to manufacture confrontation.
It is to ensure continuity.
Presence must become a system, not a single asset.
V. Protecting the Sea Is Part of Maritime Security
A maritime state cannot protect maritime territory while allowing its marine resources to collapse.
Destructive fishing is simultaneously an environmental, economic and security problem.
Illegal fishing can damage coral reefs, reduce fish stocks, destroy breeding grounds and undermine legitimate Filipino fishermen.
Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing can also cross national boundaries, making fisheries management a matter of international cooperation and maritime governance.
The response must therefore combine:
Vessel monitoring + fisheries enforcement + port inspections + catch documentation + community reporting + satellite monitoring + international cooperation + effective penalties.
Marine protected areas, mangrove restoration, coral rehabilitation and artificial reefs can complement enforcement.
They cannot replace it.
The same principle applies to retired maritime assets.
A retired vessel might, after proper preparation, become an artificial reef or maritime heritage site. But it should never be sunk simply because disposal is expensive.
The rule should be:
Ecological purpose first; disposal second.
Every proposed artificial reef should pass engineering, hazardous-material, navigation and ecological assessments before deployment, followed by long-term monitoring and adaptive management.
The project succeeds only if the marine environment benefits.
VI. From Retired Assets to Blue-Economy Infrastructure
The possibility of converting carefully selected retired maritime assets into artificial reefs illustrates a broader opportunity.
International projects such as Dive Bahrain have demonstrated how prepared retired assets can become marine habitats, diving destinations, research sites and tourism attractions.
The Philippines possesses many of the conditions necessary for an appropriate local model: extensive coastlines, diving communities, fisheries, marine research institutions and coastal tourism economies.
A properly prepared vessel could potentially become:
an artificial reef + diving site + research location + maritime heritage attraction + tourism asset + local economic anchor.
But the environmental standard must remain high.
Artificial reefs can alter ecosystems, concentrate fish rather than increase fish populations, interfere with navigation or introduce pollutants if preparation is inadequate.
The Philippine approach should therefore follow a clear sequence:
Asset screening → Hazardous-material removal → Engineering assessment → Ecological assessment → Site approval → Controlled deployment → Monitoring → Adaptive management.
The project succeeds only when science demonstrates that the marine environment and surrounding communities stand to benefit.
VII. Building the Maritime Industrial Base
A maritime state cannot remain permanently dependent on foreign suppliers for every vessel, repair, component and technical service.
This does not mean trying to manufacture everything domestically.
It means developing the capacity to sustain critical maritime capabilities.
The progression should be:
Maintenance → Repair → Overhaul → Engineering → Integration → Local Suppliers → Component Production → Modification → Design.
Renewed shipbuilding investment in Subic, together with established operations such as Tsuneishi in Cebu and other Philippine shipyards, creates an opportunity to rebuild industrial knowledge.
But the goal should not simply be to produce more vessels.
A shipyard should become an industrial anchor.
Around it should grow suppliers of steel fabrication, electrical systems, marine equipment, engines and components, software, communications equipment, coatings, safety systems, logistics and specialized maintenance.
Shipbuilding is therefore not simply about ships.
It is about building an industrial ecosystem.
That ecosystem can support commercial shipping, ferries, fishing vessels, workboats, Coast Guard platforms and, where appropriate, defense requirements.
A shipyard that only assembles imported components creates employment.
A shipbuilding ecosystem that progressively develops suppliers, engineers, tooling, design and integration creates national capability.
VIII. People Are the Industrial Base
The Philippines already possesses a major maritime advantage: its workforce.
Filipino seafarers are recognized globally.
But a maritime state needs more than seafarers.
It needs marine engineers, naval architects, welders, electricians, pipefitters, shipyard managers, robotics specialists, software engineers, marine scientists, maritime lawyers, logistics professionals and systems engineers.
This requires stronger partnerships among government training institutions, universities, shipyards, shipping companies and technology firms.
The progression should be:
Investment → Training → Employment → Experience → Expertise → Philippine Management → Philippine Engineering Capability.
The objective is not merely to supply labor to foreign maritime companies.
It is to create Filipinos capable of eventually managing, designing, integrating, maintaining and improving maritime systems.
That is the difference between having a maritime workforce and having maritime human capital.
IX. From Buyer to Builder
This leads to a fundamental change in procurement philosophy.
Buying a ship should not be the end of a transaction.
It should begin a capability-building process.
Where practical, major acquisitions should include training, technical documentation, maintenance capability, local maintenance and repair capacity, systems integration, local suppliers and meaningful industrial participation.
The Philippines should continue purchasing technologies it cannot yet produce.
There is nothing inherently wrong with buying foreign technology.
The problem arises when every acquisition leaves the country with little more than an imported platform and a maintenance bill.
Every major acquisition should therefore ask:
What Philippine capability will remain after the purchase is completed?
The answer could be trained technicians.
It could be a domestic maintenance facility.
It could be a local supplier.
It could be engineering knowledge.
It could be software capability.
It could be systems-integration expertise.
It could be a Philippine company capable of supporting the next generation of equipment.
The same principle should apply to international partnerships.
Foreign partners can provide ships, aircraft, intelligence, training, technology, financing and industrial cooperation.
But the strategic question should always be:
What remains after the exercise, contract or deployment ends?
If Filipino institutions, workers, engineers and companies are stronger afterward, the partnership has generated national capability.
X. Maritime Infrastructure Is National Infrastructure
Ports, shipyards, ferry terminals, fisheries facilities, logistics networks, communications systems and maritime-energy infrastructure should not be viewed as isolated projects.
They are components of one national system.
That system requires redundancy.
If one port is damaged, another should be capable of absorbing traffic.
If one shipyard becomes unavailable, another should provide essential repair capacity.
If one communications network fails, alternatives should exist.
If one shipping route is disrupted, alternative routes should be available.
This principle matters not only during war.
Typhoons, earthquakes, cyberattacks, accidents, pandemics and economic disruptions can all interrupt maritime networks.
Resilience therefore means:
The system can be damaged without being brought to a standstill.
For an archipelago, this is not a luxury.
It is national survival.
XI. Space, Data and Technology at Sea
Modern maritime capability extends far beyond the coastline.
Satellites can observe enormous areas.
Radar can detect vessels.
AIS can provide information about participating ships.
Drones can extend surveillance.
Underwater systems can inspect vessels and infrastructure.
Artificial intelligence can help identify unusual patterns.
Secure communications can connect agencies and field personnel.
But technology should support human judgment, not replace it.
The objective is not to create an enormous technological system that nobody can effectively operate.
It is to ensure that the right information reaches the right people quickly enough to act.
The basic chain is:
Sensors → Information → Verification → Decision → Action.
The real test of maritime-domain awareness is therefore not how much data the Philippines collects.
It is whether that data improves decisions and produces action.
XII. Maritime Power Includes the Blue Economy
Security and economic development are not opposing objectives.
A fishing community contributes to maritime presence.
A port contributes to national resilience.
A shipyard contributes to strategic industry.
A seafarer represents national human capital.
An offshore-energy project contributes to energy security.
A marine research vessel contributes to national knowledge.
A tourism destination creates coastal employment.
These activities reinforce one another.
Security creates confidence. Confidence attracts investment. Investment creates economic activity. Economic activity creates infrastructure and jobs. Infrastructure and jobs strengthen the maritime nation.
This is the economic foundation of maritime power.
A country does not become maritime simply because it owns warships.
It becomes maritime when its economy, institutions, people, infrastructure and security system can operate effectively across and around the sea.
XIII. Making the Maritime Nation Visible
MANA Mo can connect these otherwise separate activities.
It can connect history with industry.
Fisheries with conservation.
Shipbuilding with employment.
Maritime security with everyday economic life.
Coastal communities with national policy.
Most importantly, it can change how Filipinos imagine their own country.
For too long, the Philippines has sometimes been viewed as a collection of islands separated by water.
The opposite is closer to reality.
The sea is the country’s connecting infrastructure.
It carries people, food, energy, trade, information and culture.
It is simultaneously an economic space, transportation network, ecological system, security environment and part of national identity.
MANA Mo should therefore evolve into a year-round national platform involving schools, universities, local governments, coastal communities, maritime workers, scientists, environmental groups, ports, shipyards, tourism operators, industry and security agencies.
September can remain the focal month.
But maritime awareness should continue throughout the year.
The goal is to make maritime consciousness part of ordinary Philippine civic consciousness.
XIV. The Maritime State Is the Instrument; the Maritime Nation Is the Identity
The distinction must remain clear.
The maritime nation is the Philippines itself: its people, geography, history, culture, economy and relationship with the sea.
The maritime state is the institutional machinery that allows that nation to exercise its interests effectively.
One cannot replace the other.
A maritime nation without capable institutions remains vulnerable.
A maritime state without public understanding becomes a collection of agencies, laws, vessels and equipment without a unifying purpose.
The country needs both.
The nation provides the identity. The state provides the capability.
MANA Mo helps develop the identity.
The National Maritime Council helps coordinate government.
The Coast Guard and Navy provide security capabilities.
BFAR protects fisheries.
MARINA develops the maritime industry.
NAMRIA provides critical mapping and hydrographic capability.
DENR protects ecosystems.
Ports and shipyards provide infrastructure.
Universities and training institutions develop people.
Industry creates investment and technology.
Communities provide local knowledge and participation.
Together, they form a national maritime system.
XV. From Maritime Nation to Maritime Capability
The Philippines therefore does not need a new national identity.
It needs to act more consistently on the identity it already possesses.
The strategic progression is:
Maritime Nation
↓
Maritime Awareness
↓
Maritime Governance
↓
Maritime Presence
↓
Maritime Security
↓
Maritime Infrastructure
↓
Maritime Industry
↓
Maritime Human Capital
↓
Blue-Economy Development
↓
Maritime Resilience
↓
Maritime Capability
↓
Maritime Power
This is why shipbuilding matters.
It is why MANA Mo matters.
It is why the Sierra Madre matters.
It is why fishermen matter.
It is why marine ecosystems matter.
It is why ports matter.
It is why maritime education matters.
It is why satellites, sensors and data matter.
It is why procurement reform matters.
These are not separate projects.
They are different components of the same national system.
Conclusion: Build the System, Not Just the Assets
The Philippines should not seek to become a maritime republic.
It does not need a new political identity.
It already has the more fundamental identity:
The Philippines is a maritime and archipelagic nation.
The task is to build the capacity to live up to that reality.
That means protecting maritime rights through law, diplomacy and presence.
It means knowing what is happening at sea.
It means protecting fishermen and marine resources.
It means responding intelligently and proportionately to coercion and illegal activity.
It means maintaining the Sierra Madre while responsibly preparing for the future of Ayungin.
It means confronting destructive fishing and environmental degradation.
It means using satellites, sensors, communications and data to understand the maritime domain.
It means developing artificial reefs and other marine infrastructure only where science demonstrates that they serve legitimate ecological or public purposes.
It means building ships, repairing ships and progressively designing more of the systems the country depends upon.
It means turning foreign investment into Philippine skills, suppliers, engineering knowledge and management capability.
It means treating ports, shipyards, communications and logistics as national infrastructure.
It means connecting the blue economy with national security.
It means building a maritime workforce that can evolve into a maritime industrial and engineering base.
And it means making MANA Mo more than an annual observance.
MANA Mo should become part of a permanent national conversation about what it means to be Filipino in an archipelago.
The ultimate objective is not to dominate the sea.
It is to become capable of living securely, productively and sustainably with it.
The Philippines should therefore move:
from awareness to capability;
from rights to effective exercise of rights;
from episodic presence to sustained presence;
from vulnerability to resilience;
from disposal to productive reuse;
from buyer to builder;
from fragmented programs to an integrated maritime system.
And ultimately:
from being a maritime nation by geography to being a maritime nation by capability.
The maritime nation already exists.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 